Lee Elder Becomes the first African American to play in the Masters Tournament

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Some people told me, 'Man, how can you play in the Masters after all this? Why don't you refuse?' But I feel I can do more good being there. As hard as I've tried to get there, how can I run away now?”

In 1975 Elder became the first African American to play in the Masters. Leading up to the tournament he received substantial amounts of hate mail. Fearing for his safety, during the week of the tournament he rented two houses in town and kept moving between them, and always had people around him when he went to eat.